Circuit controller



Aug. 21, 1928. 1,681,722

A. W. BURKE CIRCUIT CONTROLLER Original Filed Aug. 13. 1921 gs t s t 1INVENTOR ATTORNEYS Aug. 21, 1928. 1,681,722 5 A. w. BURKE CIRCUITCONTROLLER Original Filed g. 13, 1921 2 Sheets-$heet 2 M INVENTOR 6 2*VM ATTORNEYS Patented Aug. 21, 1928 "UNITED STATES PATENT v, OFFIC'EQALFRED w. BURKE, or PELHAM MANOR, NEW Yam.

ornotrr'r CONTROLLER.

Original application filed August 13, 1931, Serial No. 491,206 Patentno. 1,565,546. Divided and this application filed September 15, 1925.Serial No. 56,429.

My-invention relates to electrical apparatus and is adapted for use as acombined motor starter and circuit controller for example, and an objectof my invention is the provision of a device which may be em- I ployedto great advantage in starting an electric motor, the device functioningautomatically to open the motor circuit under abnormal currentconditions,--as an overload, for example. i I

The present device although. adopted for other uses is well adapted foruse in connection with split phase, as well as direct current motors,and when used with split phase motors is capable of being substitutedfor the usual centrifugal switch employed in connection with suchmotors. In this connection. it may be well to note that my improveddevice possesses many practical advantages in that the ordinarycentrifugal switch employed in connection with split phase motors isbuilt directly into the motor and hence is not accessible forinspection, repairs, etc., whereas the present device which does notrely upon centrifugal force for operation is mounted entirely outside ofthe motor and hence is accessible at all times for inspection, repairs,replacements, or any other purpose desired.

As another advantage'in connection with the use of my device as appliedto split phase motors, I may mention that after the starting orauxiliary winding has been cut out of circuit by opening the startingswitch, the circuit of this winding cannot be re-est-ablished until themain circuit has been opened by openingthe running switch. Briefly, myinvention comprises a device in which I have embodied twoswitches, oneof which for convenience I shall term the starting switch and the otherof which I .shall term the running switch. r

In employing this device in connection with split phase motors,'forexample, the starting switch, of course, controls the usual startingwinding of the motor while the running switch controls the currentwinding. lVhen my" device is employed with direct current motors one' ofthese switches is arrangedso as to close the circuit to the motorthrough the usualstarting resistance, this resistance beingshortcircuited within'a predetermined time after the other switch hasclosed. i

In the case of split phase motors the circuit to the starting. windingis not completed although the starting switch is closed, until therunning switch is closed.

The centrifugal switches Igrdinarily employed with split phase motorspossess'certain disadvantages which it is an object of i switch thestarting winding, as, above noted, i

is in circuit both at starting and whenever the motor is suflicientlyloaded for the speed to drop down to a point where the j centrifugalswitch will again close; In the present apparatus, however, guished fromthis, the starting switch after it has once been opened cannot be closedagain unless the running switch is first of all opened. r r 1 Viewing myinvention from another angle, the starting winding when my device isemployed is in circuit during the starting operation only, it beingnecessary .to dis connect the motor from the line before it .as distill:

is again possible to energize both windings. 1

IVith the centrifugal type of switch it is common practice tov have anattendant at the motor when the motor is started so that should themotor fail to start for any reason the attendant may disconnect itb'utafterthe motor 'is' running there is usually no attendant present,with the -resultthat should the motor stall dueto' overload or lowvoltage, the starting winding will again cut in and may burn out. Withmy improved switch, however, the arrangement is t such that it isimpossible for the'starting and running switches to remain in circuit atthe same time except momentarily, the starting switch openingautomatically within a predetermined period and in case of overload therunning switch will be opened auto matically whether an attendant bepresent ornot, 1

In the accompanying drawings wherein an embodiment of my improvedstarting and controlling device has been illustrated, I

Fig. 1 shows the apparatus in sideelevation with all the parts inneutral position;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the apparatus of Fig. 1 with the box in whichthe apparatus is enclosed shown in section; I

Fig. 3 is an elevation showing the parts moved to a aosition where thestarting switch is closed;

Fig. 4 shows the main switch closed;

Fig. 5 shows the parts in position after the apparatus has beenautomatically tripped so as to open the motor circuit;

Fig. 6 is a wiring diagram showing the application of my improved deviceto a split phase motor; and

Fig. 7 is a wiring diagram showing the application of my device to adirect current motor.

I Referring to the drawings in detail, 1

designates a base to which the entire ap-' paratus'is attached, theapparatus as a whole, with the exception of a manually operated key bywhich the mechanism is operated initially being enclosed in a box, 2.

From an inspection of Figures 1 and 2, for example,'it will be seen that3 and 4 designate two plates which are placed apart upon a pair of studs5 and 6 which are mounted in the base 1. Interposed between the plates 3and 4 and pivoted upon a stud 7, is a tripping lever 8, the lower end ofwhich is adapted to be moved into engagement with the lower ends of anarmature 9 2 of an electromagnet 10.

' Upon the stud7 above referred to, I pivot also the extension 11 of ablock or arm 12. This arm is provided with a slot 13. (See Fig. 2). Thisslotreceives a switch arm 14 carrying a contact 15, this contact beingadapted to engage a contact 16 carried in the pose of enabling therunning switch to be manually operated'when desired. This togglecomprises arms 17 and 18, the arm 18 being pivoted on the upper ends ofthe tripping lever 8 above referred to as indicated at 19. The arm 18 isslotted as indicated at 20 this slot receiving a pin 21 carried by thetoggle. arm 17. A stud 22 carries the operating key 23 which as abovementioned, is on the exterior of the box 2 andon this same stud I mounta pair of arms 24 and 25. The arm 24 may be termed a toggle operatingarm and is rigid with the arm 25 shown in Figure 3.

purpose of actuating the contact block or contact carrying arm v12 aboutits pivot 7. This arm or lever 25 is provided with a tail or extension26 which is adapted to cooperate with a bracket 27 bywhich theelectro-magnet 10 is supported, this'bracket being pivoted so that theelectromagnet may be moved away from its armature9 to vary the arm gapbetween the electromagnet and its armature, as ior'example, for theposition shown in Figure 1, to. the position The magnet supportingbracket 27 is provided with an oifset 28 to which is secured a coilspring 29 to the other end of which is fastened a stud 30. Y Y

The contact carrying member or arm 12 has pivotally secured to it oneendot' an electrically controlled locking lever or trigger. 31.

This locking lever which cooperates with the armor lever-25 alreadyreferred to and with the contact carrying arm 12 is provided adjacentone end with an offset 32 carrying a roller 33 cooperating with a rolleror stop 34 mounted on a fixed stud as shown. on

Figure 4 for example.

I A pivot 35 provided within the ,box 2 carries a starting switch arm 36adapted to. cooperate with a starting contact 37. This starting switcharm carries the stud 30 already referred to, to which one'endof thespring 29 is connected. is operated to closed position and also to openposition by the action of the coil spring 29, as will be presentlydescribed, this spring always being. in tension. The starting Thestarting switch switch arm is limited in its movement to :-i?

open position by contact 38.

The locking lever or trigger 31 is electrically controlled in that oneend of the same is attached to the .armature 9 of the electromagnet.

The electromagnet after movement to the left as viewed in Fig. 3 forexample, under action with key 23 is returned to position as shown inFig. 1 by a coil spring 39 oneend of which is secured to the base orframe 1 the other end being secured to a bracket 41 which is carried bythe electromagnet, this bracket being attached or having attached to itthe plunger 42 of a dashpot 43, the chamber of which is pivoted on thestud 6. This arrangement provides electrically operated means thesetting of which automatically'and continuously varies during apredetermined period, to wit; 'from the time the electromagnet begins tomove from the position shown in Fig. 3 until it has reached the positionof Fig. 1.

Havingdescribed the details of my improved apparatus, I will nowdescribe a cycle of operation thereof with reference first of all,however, to the wiring-diagrams of Figs. 6 and'l': starting with theparts in the position shown in Fig. 1 the operating key 23, which itwill be remembered is fixed to the stud 22 is turned first of all in aclockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 1. This movement of the operatingkey will actuate the levers 24 a-nd'25 to the right as viewed in Fig. 1the lever 24-riding beneath the toggle mechanism composed of the arms 17and 18 as illustrated in Fig. 3. At the same time the member 25 willcarry the trigger or lockinglever 31 to the right swinging the said arm12 about its pivot 7 in a clockwise direction. This movement iscontinuous until the parts have reached the dotted line of Fig. 3 atwhich time the roller 33 will have been carried past the center of theroller 34 so as to be locked, behind said roller; This same movement ofthe key 23 has carried the electromagnet 10, that is to. say,

has moved the same bodily from the position shown in'Fig. 1 to thatshown in Fig. 3. This movement of the'electromag net placing the spring39 under tension and also drawing the plunger of the dashpot 43outwardly. r

-A short time after the beginningof'the V bodily movement oftheelectromagnet 10 to the left, thespring 29, which it will'beremeinbered is attached thereto, will pass above the center of the pivot35 of the start-.

ing switch 36 and inasmuch as this'spring is attached to this switch,asabove mentioned, 6

and is now undertension, it will snap the starting switch into closedposition,'that is tosay, into engagement with the contact 37 Thisposition otthis starting switch is indicated in Fig; 3 in dotted lines.

The key 23 may now be released and its spring 23 will return the key toits original position at the same time returning the levers 24 and 25 tothe dotted line position of Fig. 4. As soon as thelever 24, which itwill be remembered was previously in engagement with the toggle arm 18,moves out from beneath this arm the toggle will be moved downwardly,under the action of the spring 44 carrying with it the switch arm 14until the contact 15 engages the contact 16 .ot the switch armor switchblock 12-. This closes the running switch composed of the contacts15'and16.

I The startin switch composed of the contacts 36 and 3? however, isstill closed being already closed by the spring 29attached totheelec'tromagnet 10. At this instant both switches are closed,' Theelectromagnet 10,

however, has not yet completed its movement to the right asviewedin'Fig, 4 and as soon as the electromagnet has moved sufficiently tocarry the spring 29'below the pivotal point of the switch 36, the latterwill be snapped toopen position. V

"In order that the application of my improved starting and controllingapparatus to a motor may be understood I shall now proceed to describeits operation in connec tion with the split phase wiring diagram of Fig.6., In this diagram 45 designates a starting winding and 46 a runningwinding of a split phase motor, 1010 designate the windings of theelectromagnet 10.

Assuming that the parts of the starting and controlling device are inthe position shownin Fig. 1 the windings 45, 46 and 1010 are allopen-circuited. It now, the key 23 be operated as above described, thatis to say, in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig.1,the contactcarried by the starting switch arm 36 will be moved into engagement withthe starting contact 37, the wind-- ing 45 still being open circuitedand as soon as the key 23 moves in a reverse direction far enough tocarry the lever 24 from be neath the toggle arm 17, the running switch14 will be moved downwardly under the ac-v tion of the spring 44,carrying the running contact 15 into engagement with the contact 16. Thecircuit to the starting winding 45 and the running winding 46 is nowclosed as 7 well as the circuit to the windings JU -10 of theelectromagnet 10. lVithin a predetermined period, however, that is whenthe spring 39 has carried the spring 29 "below the pivoted point ottheswitch arm 36, the starting switch will be opened as I have abovedescribed, with the result that the starting winding is open-circuited.This is true whether the motor Should the motor fail to start, due tooverload, for example, or for some other reason,

the electromagnet 10 will actuate its armature 9. In this event, ofcourse, as I have above pointed out, the running switch will be openedat thecontacts 15 and 16 to opencircuit the running winding 46. As Ihave also above pointed out, it isimpossiblc for the starting switch tobe closed after it has once been opened unless and until the run-' ningswitch has first been opened. Hence...

it will be seen that I have provided an a paratus adapted for use inconnection with split phase motors wherein initially the startingwinding and:running winding are both energized, the starting windingbeing open-circuite d within a predetermined period after its circuithas been made, means havingbeen provided whereby the circuit of startsor not.

of over-load until it is opened either manually or automatically, theautomatic opening of the main switch being accomplished by an increasein the flow of current in the electromagnet due to over-load forexample, which will cause the electromaget to attract its armature 9,drawing the same to the left. Inasmuch as the an ature 9 i s secured tothe locking lever 31, movement of this armature to the left will causethe locking lever to be rocked about its pivotto raise the roller 33above the roller 84, permitting the spring 45 car ried by the extension11. of the contact carrying block 12 to function to cause the contactcarrying block 12 to be rocked about its pivot toopcn the running switcharm 14 to open position. r

It will be seen that now both the starting switch and the running switchare open. It may be desirable, ofcourse, to open the running switchmanually instead of automatically, and this may readily be accomplishedby merely actuating the key in a clock wise direction, which will bringthe end of the tripping lever 24 into engagement with the end of thetoggle arm 18 which, it will be assumed, is in t 1e position shown inFig. 4.v Continued movement of the key 28 in a clock-wise directionwill, of course, carry the toggle lever 18 to the right, this movementof the toggle arm with respect to the arm 17 being permitted by reasonof the slot 20. The toggle arm 18 will now cause the tripping lever 8 tobe rocked about its pivot so as to carry the lower end of this trippinglever to the left into engagen'ient with the armature 9 to cause thelatter to move in the same direction as though it had been actuated bythe electromagnet 10.

In Fig. 7 I have illustrated a wiring diagram for a direct current motor47 wherein my apparatus may be employed. When em ploying my device witha direct current motor the contact 38 is connected to the mains insteadof the contact 37. From Fig. 7 it will be seenthat when the key 23 isactuated in a clock-wise. direction and before the starting switch 36has been actuated to closed position,-it being remembered now thatclosed position in connection with the direct current motor is when theswitch 36 contacts with the contact 88,the main switch 14 will beclosed. A circuit is now closed to the motor 47 through the windings10'10 of the electromagnet 10 and starting resistance 48. As soonhowever, as the key 23 is released and the spring 39 actuates thestarting switch 36 into contact with the contact 38, the startingresistance 48 will be short-circuited.

The motor will continue to run with the switches 36 and 16 closed andthe starting I resistance 46 cut out as long as may be desired or untilsome abnormal condition arises, so as to cause the electromagnet- 10 toactuate its armature 9'. In. this event the switch 14'will be open andmay not again be closed until the starting switch 36 has been opened.

Here, then, it will be seen that with the parts in neutral position theswitch 36 is in engagement with the contact 38 and the switch 14 in openposition :-in other words, the switches are in the position shown inFig. 7. When the key 23 is actuated the switch 36 will be moved awayfrom the contact 38 and soon thereafter the running switch 14 will beclosed, the reverse movement ofthe key 23 causing the switch 36 to bereturned to its initial position, that is to say, into engagement withthe contact 38 to cut out the starting resistance 48.

It will be seen from the foregoing that I have provided an apparatuswherein two switches are provided, one of which has been termed astarting switch and the other a a running switch. It will be seenfurthermore that the starting switchis first of all closedalthough nocircuit is established and that on further operation the running switchis closed, the starting switch thereafter within a prede-- terminedperiod being automatically opened.

The running switch will remain closed un-. til the electromagnet- 10actuates its armature or until the running switch has been manuallyopened by movement of the key 23 in the manner above described.

It will be seen furthermore that I have provided an apparatus wherein itis impossible to again close the starting switch after the same has beenopened unless the running switch 14 has first of allbeen opened,

for the reason that in order that the start-- ing switch maybe againclosed'it becomes necessary for the tail 26 of the lever 25 to beactuated to carry the spring 29 above the center of the pivot of thestarting switch but owing to the position of the toggle arms 17 and '18after the starting switch has once been opened and the running switchclosed,

this movement of the lever '25. will also carry the lever 24 intoengagement with the toggle arm 18 to open the runningfswitch.

It will be seen furthermore that have provided mechanism whereby therunning switch may be opened automatically due to an increase in currentin the electromagnet 10 and whereby the running switch may be openedmanually at any time desired. I

In connection with the application of my devicecto split phase motors itwill be seen that although the starting switch closes first it is notuntil the running switch has closed that the circuit is made to thestarting winding, and that within a predetermined period the startingwinding is open circuited. In other words, means have been providedwhereby the circuit to the starting winding may not remain closed beyonda predetermined period.

It will be seen also that in connection with direct current motors thestarting resistance is automatically short-circuited within apredetermined period and the circuit through the starting resistance maynot be again closed until the main switch opens.

It is to be understood that changes in the details of construction of myapparatus may be made by those skilled in the art within the purview ofmy invention.

This application is a division of my Patent No. 1,565,546 dated December15, 1925.

What I claim is:

1. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination of a startingswitch, a running switch, manually operable means for closing saidswitches, a locking lever for locking the running switch closed, meansfor opening the starting switch while the locking lever is in operativeposition and means for preventing closure of the starting switch untilsaid locking lever has been. released.

2.,In an apparatus of the class described, the combination oi a startingswitch, i run ning switch, an-electromagnet for controlling said runningswitch, and operative connection between said electromagnet and saidstarting switch, means for imparting bodily movement to saidelectromagnet to cause the Said starting switch to close, said. meansoperating at the" same time to close said main switch and means forreturning said electromagnet to its initial. position and at the sametime open said starting switch without opening said running switch.

3. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination of a startingswitch, and a running switch, an electromagnet, an operative connectionbetween said electromagnet and said starting switch, means torimpart ingbodily movement to said electromagnetto cause said starting switch to beclosed, said means functioning to also close said running switch, meansfor returning the electromagnet to its initial position, this return ofthe electromagnet automatically opening said starting switch leaving therunning switch closed, and means for retarding the movement of theelectromagnet to its initial position. 7

4. In an apparatus of the class described.

the combination of a starting switch and a carrying a contact forcooperating with said running switch, toggle mechanism connected to saidrunning switch, a locking lever for said main switch, a tripping leveradapted to cooperate with said toggle mechanism to open the runningswitch, said tripping lever and toggle mechanism preventing closure'otsaid l'UIllllIlQSWltCll until the starting switch has been closed.

5. In a device of the character described the combination of anelectrically controlled element, an electromagnet and an armaturetherefor for automatically effecting an ac tuation of said element andmeans for bodily moving said electromagnet relatively to its armature. I

6. In a circuit controlling device the combinationof a switch forclosing an electric circuit, anelectromagnet and an armature thereforfor automatically efl'ecting an opening of said switch, and means forvarying the position of said electromagnet relatively of its armature.

7. In a device of the character described, the combination of a switchcomprising a pair or contacts, an arm carrying one of said contacts, atrigger attached to said arm, a roller carried by said trigger, a stopmem-- ber operating with said roller, means for actuating the triggerinto position to bring the center of this roller below the center ofsaid stop to maintain said arm in closed switch position and anelectromagnet operating with said trigger and adapted underpredetermined current conditions to raise said roller to thereby permitsaid arm to move automatically to open switch position. 7

8. In a device of the character described, the combination of a switch,a bodily moveable electromagnet and an armature therefor forautomatically controlling the operation of said switch and a dashpotconnected to said electromagnet for retarding bodily movement of thesame with respect to said armature.

This specification signed this 4th day of Sept. 1925.

ALFRED W. BURKE.

